Approximately 2 200 Russian citizens in Latvia still have not responded to letters inviting them to take a state language exam, as Head of Legal Department of the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP) Arvīds Zahars told the Constitutional Court.
On Thursday, the 11th of January, the Constitutional Court continued viewing the case regarding the regulations that make it mandatory for Russian citizens to pass a Latvian language exam in order to acquire a residence permit.
Zahars reported that there are approximately 900 Russian citizens have left the country so far. No information is available for the remaining Russian citizens, as they have not responded to letters sent by PMLP.
He stressed that people continue turning to PMLP to settle residence permit affairs. Not a single forced deportation has been made so far.
As previously reported, a plea to the Constitutional Court was submitted by Russian citizens who are holders of permanent residence permits. They turned to the court, requesting a review of compliance of Section 58 of the transitional provisions of the Immigration Law with Article 1, the first sentence of Article 91 and Article 96 of the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia.
According to the plaintiffs, the contested norm puts them in an unequal position when compared to other former Latvian citizen and non-citizen who received permanent residence permits in accordance with accordance with Section 24, Paragraph one, Clause 8 of the Immigration Law. On top of that, the decision of the Latvian state to revoke their permanent residence status, their right for right to privacy of life and the principle of protection of legitimate expectations were violated.
Thus, the contested norm does not comply with Article 1, the first sentence of Article 91, as well as Article 96 of the Constitution.
Article 1 of the Constitution stipulates that Latvia is an independent democratic republic. The first sentence of Article 91 stipulates that all people in Latvia are equal before the law and the court, while Article 96 stipulates that everyone has the right to inviolability of private life, housing and correspondence.
The case consists of several several applications. At the previous court hearing, the applicants’ defence attorneys, a representative of the Saeima, as well as representatives of the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Justice, were heard.
As previously reported, the 24th of September 2022 marked the coming into force of amendments to the Immigration Law that change the regulations that govern the issue of residence permits to Russian citizens. The amendments provide that Russian citizens who were Latvian citizens or Latvian non-citizens before obtaining citizenship of another country and reside in Latvia with a permanent residence permit had to submit documents certifying knowledge of the official language at A2 level to the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP) by the 1st of September last year.
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